Karnataka High Court Partly Sets Aside ₹79.58 Arbitral Award In Automotive Axles Housing Society Dispute

The Karnataka High Court on 1 June, partly set aside an arbitral award of Rs.79.58 lakh in favour of contractor K.S. Sridhar, holding that several claims allowed by the arbitrator lacked evidentiary support and were patently illegal. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha partly allowed the appeal filed by Automotive Axles Employees Housing Co-operative Society Ltd., modifying the arbitral award while sustaining certain monetary components in favour of...

Delhi HC Refuses To Quash Case Against Aryan Energy, Says Coal Beneficiation Issue Must Go To Trial

On 1 June, the Delhi High Court refused to quash criminal proceedings against Aryan Energy Pvt Ltd., holding that whether coal beneficiation amounts to “manufacturing” under the Companies Act, 2013 requires evidence and cannot be decided at the stage of quashing. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held that the company's claims involve disputed questions of fact that must be decided at trial. She observed: “In light of the aforesaid discussion, it cannot be said that per se Beneficiation of Coal is...

S.138 NI Act Case Cannot Fail For Non-Examination Of Authorised Representative: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 20 May held that a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 cannot be rejected solely on the ground that the complainant's original authorised representative was not examined, where the court could have exercised powers under Section 311 CrPC to summon the witness and ensure a just decision. Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee allowed the appeal filed by Shriram Transport Finance Co. Ltd. and set aside the judgment dated 27 August 2021 passed by...

Jharkhand High Court Appoints Arbitrator In Hindustan Dorr Oliver-Uranium Corporation Contract Dispute

The Jharkhand High Court on 8 May held that while exercising jurisdiction under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, a referral court is required to undertake only a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement and cannot enter into disputed questions relating to limitation, maintainability or the effect of insolvency proceedings. Chief Justice M.S. Sonak appointed former Andhra Pradesh High Court Judge Justice C. Praveen Kumar as the sole...

Delhi High Court Grants Zee Temporary Injunction Against Illegal Streaming Of FIFA World Cup 2026

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted a temporary injunction in favour of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. The court restrained rogue websites from illegally streaming FIFA World Cup 2026 content and directed internet service providers to block access to them in real time. Zee holds exclusive media rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India across cable, satellite, terrestrial, IPTV, broadband, and mobile transmission platforms. The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 11 to...

Bombay High Court Refuses Urgent Plea Against Release Of Varun Dhawan-Starrer 'Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai'

The Bombay High Court has recently declined to entertain an urgent plea seeking reliefs against the release of the Varun Dhawan starrer film "Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai" and two songs featured in it, observing that Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd. had already approached a court in Bihar seeking similar reliefs and had failed to satisfactorily explain why it had not secured permission to withdraw those proceedings. Justice Farhan P. Dubash passed the order on June 3, two days before the film's...

No Relief For Reimbursement Claims Made To Foreign Parent Without Expense Break-Up: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has recently dismissed appeals filed by Cairn India Limited, now Vedanta Limited, and upheld tax demands over its failure to deduct tax at source (TDS) on payments remitted to its Australian parent company. While dismissing Cairn's plea, the court made it clear that a taxpayer cannot obtain relief merely by describing a lump-sum payment as a reimbursement. If the claim is that the payment represents reimbursement of expenses, the taxpayer must disclose what those expenses...

Banks Must Take Proactive Steps Against SIM Swap Fraud: Karnataka HC Upholds BSNL's Liability In Fraud Case

The Karnataka High Court has recently observed that banks must proactively strengthen safeguards against SIM swap fraud. It noted that measures such as multiple OTP delivery channels, delayed processing of high-value transactions following SIM swaps, alternate transaction alerts and customer awareness initiatives can help prevent such frauds. Justice Suraj Govindaraj made the observations while holding BSNL liable for a fraud that enabled unauthorised withdrawals of ₹87.70 lakh from the account...

Closure Of Non-Fraud GST Proceedings Does Not Bar Fraud-Related Proceedings By Central Authorities: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has held that the closure of proceedings by State GST authorities under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 does not, by itself, prevent Central GST authorities from proceeding under Section 74 of the Act, observing that the two provisions operate on "altogether different considerations."Section 73 applies to cases involving tax not paid, short paid, erroneously refunded, or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised without allegations of fraud,...

Kerala High Court Dismisses CMRL Appeal Against ED Probe In Money Laundering Case Involving Ex-CM's Daughter

The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) challenging an Enforcement Directorate summons issued in a money laundering probe linked to payments allegedly made to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Veena Vijayan, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. A division bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K.V. Jayakumar upheld the ED's action and declined to quash the Enforcement Case Information Report...

Arbitral Mandate Can Be Extended After Expiry; No Limitation Prescribed: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has recently reiterated that applications seeking extension of an arbitral tribunal's mandate can be filed even after expiry of the prescribed period and that courts must adopt a liberal approach while considering whether sufficient cause exists for granting such extensions. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Rohan Builders (India) Private Limited v. Berger Paints India Limited and its own earlier ruling in Chidepudi Bhanu Srivastava v. Kancharla...

Pre-Deposit Under SARFAESI Can Be Based On Creditor's Claim If DRT Has Not Determined Debt: Kerala HC

On 2 June, the Kerala High Court held that where the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has not determined the debt due from a borrower, the pre-deposit required for maintaining an appeal under Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act can be computed on the basis of the amount claimed by the secured creditor. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. allowed Canara Bank's appeal in part against a Single Judge's order on the computation of pre-deposit for a SARFAESI...